The present disclosure relates generally to heating, ventilation, or air conditioning (HVAC) systems for a building. The present disclosure relates more particularly to a HVAC system configured to optimize the operation of HVAC equipment used to provide free cooling to a building.
Free cooling is a technology which uses low temperature outside air to provide cooling for a system without requiring the use of chillers. Free cooling can be used as an alternative to mechanical cooling (e.g., vapor compression cooling) under certain favorable weather conditions. For example, chillers are typically used to provide mechanical cooling for a building (e.g., by chilling a fluid provided to the building) when the outside air temperature is above a threshold temperature required for free cooling. When the outside air temperature drops below the threshold, the chillers providing mechanical cooling can be deactivated and cooling towers can be used instead to provide free cooling.